Cricket wasn't always a certainty for Dwaine Pretorius. After missing the 2008 U-19 World Cup due to a torn knee cartilage, Pretorius was contemplating different career trajectories and even...Full profile

Cricket wasn't always a certainty for Dwaine Pretorius. After missing the 2008 U-19 World Cup due to a torn knee cartilage, Pretorius was contemplating different career trajectories and even got himself an accounting degree. But after his studies, he decided to try his luck at the sport he loved one more time.

A tall, strong and fierce cricketer from South Africa, Pretorius's vaulting development outstripped the pace at which he was talked about and noticed, in the nascent stages of his career. None outside of South Africa knew much about Dwaine Pretorius.

The under-scrutinised level at which he played, and partly because, being naturally undemonstrative, he tended not to draw attention to himself. Then there was the problem of nomenclature. He arrived on the scene as an imminently noticeable T20 power-hitter but soon found himself as a bowling all-rounder.

Pretorius' climb had been so Apollo-like that it was only in the 2014-15 season that he received his first full contract at Lions. At that point, the discussion was about successors to Zander de Bruyn and Pretorius was seen to be number two or three in the pecking order, certainly behind Chris Morris and possibly neck and neck with Brett Pelser. But he soon showed his worth and was named South African Cricketers' Association's MVP in 2015.

Next year in the second half of 2016, he got his big international break, being picked for South Africa squad to tour Ireland and made his debut in the only ODI played between the two teams.

Two months later, Pretorius was flown into the Test squad in Australia after Dale Steyn got injured.